Information processing device

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an information processing apparatus for allowing a user at a remote location to make easy and quick reservation of a TV program for unattended recording over a network. In step S 103,  the user accesses an EPG server to get an HTML-based TV program information screen displayed on the user&#39;s camera-equipped digital mobile telephone and reserves through the screen a desired program for unattended recording. In response, a main control unit of the telephone requests the EPG server to attach recording reservation data about the program reserved by the user to an e-mail and to send the e-mail to the user&#39;s personal computer along with the attachment. Given the send request, the EPG server retrieves the recording reservation data from an EPG information database in step S 112,  and attaches the retrieved data to an e-mail via the internet before sending the e-mail to the personal computer in step S 113,  the personal computer being located remotely such as in the user&#39;s home.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processingapparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an informationprocessing apparatus for attaching information regarding an unattendedrecording reservation to an e-mail destined for a terminal so that theterminal, upon receipt of the e-mail, will automatically execute theunattended recording as reserved.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Today, there are technologies gaining widespread use and allowinga built-in tuner of a personal computer to receive image and soundsignals from TV stations so as to convert the received image and soundsignals into digital data that are recorded to a suitable storage mediumsuch as a hard disc and retrieved as needed for reproduction.

[0003] Illustratively, TV program recording reservation software calledGiga Pocket (registered trademark) is run on VAIO (trademark) personalcomputers produced and marketed by this applicant. The software allowsusers to enter such information as a channel number or name, a broadcaststart time, and a broadcast stop time about a desired TV program by useof input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. The information thusentered causes the software to establish a reservation of the TV programin question for unattended recording.

[0004]FIGS. 1 through 3 are explanatory views of conventional unattendedrecording reservation setting screens for use with Giga Pocket.

[0005] When the user enters a suitable key command to start a recordingreservation program, the personal computer displays a window promptingthe user to set a recording channel, a recording start date and arecording start time of the desired TV program, as shown in FIG. 1. Thusprompted, the user inputs the desired channel, start date and start timeinto the suitable fields of the window.

[0006] After entering the channel, start date and start time into thewindow, the user clicks on a button “NEXT.” This causes the personalcomputer to acquire the input recording channel, recording start dateand recording start time from the appropriate fields of the window, andto display another window prompting the user to set a recording stoptime and a recording mode, as depicted in FIG. 2.

[0007] The user inputs the relevant stop time and recording mode intothe window of FIG. 2 and clicks on the button “NEXT.” This causes thepersonal computer to acquire the entered recording stop time andrecording mode from the appropriate fields of the window, and to displayyet another window calling on the user to confirm the settings made sofar, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0008] If no error is found in the input settings displayed in thewindow of FIG. 3, the user clicks on a button “COMPLETE” forconfirmation. This allows the personal computer to complete thereservation of the desired TV program for subsequent unattendedrecording.

[0009] Recent years have witnessed the introduction of a feature made upof techniques for allowing users at remote locations to set unattendedrecording reservations by remote control. This feature is convenientwhen utilized by users who are away from home but still want to getdesired TV programs recorded unattended.

[0010] Illustratively in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-261251,this applicant proposes a method for remotely setting a video deck forunattended recording using an e-mail.

[0011] One disadvantage of the proposed method above is that whensetting an unattended recording reservation by remote control, the userat a remote location must refer to TV listings in newspapers ormagazines before entering the necessary information for the reservation.Looking up the published TV listings prior to input can be a tiresome,time-consuming chore for the user.

[0012] Furthermore, if it is desired to change or cancel previouslyestablished recording reservations, the operations involved can beinordinately complex.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0013] The present invention has been made in view of the abovecircumstances and provides an apparatus, a method and a program forallowing the user to set unattended recording reservations easily andquickly from a remote location via a network.

[0014] In carrying out the invention and according to a first aspectthereof, there is provided an information processing apparatuscomprising: a first requesting element for requesting a programinformation providing apparatus to provide program information aboutprograms via a network; a selecting element for selecting any of theprograms by controlling display of the program information provided bythe program information providing apparatus; and a second requestingelement which, if any of the programs is selected by the selectingelement, then requests the program information providing apparatus toattach to an e-mail control data for controlling reservation of theselected program for unattended recording before sending the e-mailtogether with the attached control data to another informationprocessing apparatus.

[0015] In one preferred structure according to the first aspect of theinvention, the information processing apparatus may further comprise: anassociating element for associating a predetermined music file with amail address of another information processing apparatus; an e-mailreceiving element for receiving via the network from another informationprocessing apparatus an e-mail saying that the reservation of theselected program for unattended recording is completed; and a ringingtone outputting element which, if the e-mail received by the e-mailreceiving element has a mail address associated with the music file bythe associating element, then outputs the music file as a ringing toneupon receipt of the e-mail by the e-mail receiving element.

[0016] In another preferred structure according to the first aspect ofthe invention, the control data may include channel information, arecording start date, a recording start time, and a recording stop time.

[0017] In a further preferred structure according to the first aspect ofthe invention, the control data may be added to the e-mail as anattachment file.

[0018] In an even further preferred structure according to the firstaspect of the invention, the control data may be described in a messageof the e-mail.

[0019] In a still further preferred structure according to the firstaspect of the invention, the second requesting element may request theprogram information providing apparatus to attach the control data to ageneral-purpose e-mail before sending the general-purpose e-mailtogether with the attached control data to another informationprocessing apparatus over the network.

[0020] In a yet further preferred structure according to the firstaspect of the invention, the general-purpose e-mail may be sent andreceived over the Internet.

[0021] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is providedan information processing method comprising the steps of: requestingfirstly a program information providing apparatus to provide programinformation about programs via a network; selecting any of the programsby controlling display of the program information provided by theprogram information providing apparatus; and if any of the programs isselected in the selecting step, then requesting secondly the programinformation providing apparatus to attach to an e-mail control data forcontrolling reservation of the selected program for unattended recordingbefore sending the e-mail together with the attached control data viathe network to another information processing apparatus.

[0022] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided aprogram storage medium which stores a computer-readable programcomprising the steps of: requesting firstly a program informationproviding apparatus to provide program information about programs via anetwork; selecting any of the programs by controlling display of theprogram information provided by the program information providingapparatus; and if any of the programs is selected in the selecting step,then requesting secondly the program information providing apparatus toattach to an e-mail control data for controlling reservation of theselected program for unattended recording before sending the e-mailtogether with the attached control data via the network to anotherinformation processing apparatus.

[0023] Where the information processing apparatus, informationprocessing method, and program storage medium according to the first,the second, and the third aspects of the invention respectively are inuse, the program information providing apparatus is requested to attachto an e-mail suitable control data for controlling recording of adesired TV program for unattended recording and to send the e-mail alongwith the attachment to another information processing apparatus over thenetwork.

[0024] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus comprising: an e-mail receivingelement for receiving an e-mail sent over a network from anotherinformation processing apparatus, the e-mail having control dataattached thereto for controlling reservation of a program for unattendedrecording; and a recording controlling element for initially storing thecontrol data attached to the e-mail received by the e-mail receivingelement, before controlling unattended recording of the program based onthe stored control data.

[0025] In one preferred structure according to the fourth aspect of theinvention, the information processing apparatus may further comprise ane-mail sending element for sending to another information apparatus ane-mail saying that the reservation of the program for unattendedrecording is completed.

[0026] In another preferred structure according to the fourth aspect ofthe invention, the control data may include channel information, arecording start date, a recording start time, and a recording stop time.

[0027] In a further preferred structure according to the fourth aspectof the invention, the control data are added to the e-mail as anattachment.

[0028] In an even further preferred structure according to the fourthaspect of the invention, the control data may be described in a messageof the e-mail.

[0029] In a still further preferred structure according to the fourthaspect of the invention, the e-mail receiving element may receive ageneral-purpose e-mail to which the control data are attached, thegeneral-purpose e-mail being sent from another information processingapparatus over the network.

[0030] In a yet further preferred structure according to the fourthaspect of the invention, the general-purpose e-mail may be sent andreceived over the Internet.

[0031] According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is providedan information processing method comprising the steps of: receiving ane-mail sent over a network from an information processing apparatus, thee-mail having control data attached thereto for controlling reservationof a program for unattended recording; and controlling recording byinitially storing the control data attached to the e-mail received inthe e-mail receiving step, before controlling unattended recording ofthe program based on the stored control data.

[0032] According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided aprogram storage medium which stores a computer-readable programcomprising the steps of: receiving an e-mail sent over a network from aninformation processing apparatus, the e-mail having control dataattached thereto for controlling reservation of a program for unattendedrecording; and controlling recording by initially storing the controldata attached to the e-mail received in the e-mail receiving step,before controlling unattended recording of the program based on thestored control data.

[0033] Where the information processing apparatus, informationprocessing method, and program storage medium according to the fourth,the fifth and the sixth aspects of the invention respectively are inuse, an e-mail with control data attached thereto for controllingrecording of a desired TV program for unattended recording is receivedfrom another information processing apparatus over the network.Recording of the desired TV program is then controlled based on thecontrol data attached to the e-mail.

[0034] According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provideda program information providing apparatus comprising: a storing elementfor storing control data for controlling reservation of a program forunattended recording; a providing element which, if a first informationprocessing apparatus requests provision of program information about theprogram over a network, then provides the program information to thefirst information processing apparatus; a preparing element which, ifthe first information processing apparatus requests that the controldata be sent over the network to a second information processingapparatus, then reads the control data from the storing element beforepreparing an e-mail by attaching the retrieved control data to thee-mail; and a sending element for sending the e-mail prepared by thepreparing element to the second information processing apparatus overthe network.

[0035] In one preferred structure according to the seventh aspect of theinvention, the control data may include channel information, a recordingstart date, a recording start time, and a recording stop time.

[0036] In another preferred structure according to the seventh aspect ofthe invention, the control data may be added to the e-mail as anattachment.

[0037] In a further preferred structure according to the seventh aspectof the invention, the control data may be described in a message of thee-mail.

[0038] In an even further preferred structure according to the seventhaspect of the invention, the sending element may attach the control datato a general-purpose e-mail before sending the general-purpose e-mailtogether with the attached control data to the second informationprocessing apparatus over the network.

[0039] In a still further preferred structure according to the seventhaspect of the invention, the general-purpose e-mail may be sent andreceived over the Internet.

[0040] According to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provideda program information providing method comprising the steps of:controlling storage of control data for controlling reservation of aprogram for unattended recording; if a first information processingapparatus requests program information about the program over a network,then providing the program information to the first informationprocessing apparatus; if the first information processing apparatusrequests that the control data be sent over the network to a secondinformation processing apparatus, then reading the control data storedin the storage controlling step before preparing an e-mail by attachingthe retrieved control data to the e-mail; and sending the e-mailprepared in the preparing step to the second information processingapparatus over the network.

[0041] According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided aprogram storage medium which stores a computer-readable programcomprising the steps of: controlling storage of control data forcontrolling reservation of a program for unattended recording; if afirst information processing apparatus requests program informationabout the program over a network, then providing the program informationto the first information processing apparatus; if the first informationprocessing apparatus requests that the control data be sent over thenetwork to a second information processing apparatus, then reading thecontrol data stored in the storage controlling step before preparing ane-mail by attaching the retrieved control data to the e-mail; andsending the e-mail prepared in the preparing step to the secondinformation processing apparatus over the network.

[0042] Where the program information providing apparatus, programinformation providing method, and program storage medium according tothe seventh, the eighth, and the ninth aspects of the inventionrespectively are in use, if a first information processing apparatusrequests that control data be sent over the network to a secondinformation processing apparatus, then the control data are retrievedfrom storage and an e-mail is prepared by attaching the retrievedcontrol data to the e-mail. The e-mail thus prepared is sent over thenetwork to the second information processing apparatus.

[0043] According to a tenth aspect of the invention, there is providedan image recording system comprising a program information providingapparatus, a first information processing apparatus and a secondinformation processing apparatus, the program information providingapparatus providing over a network control data for controllingreservation of a program for unattended recording, the first informationprocessing apparatus reserving the program for unattended recording, thesecond information processing apparatus recording the program inunattended fashion; wherein the program information providing apparatuscomprises: a storing element for storing the control data; a preparingelement which, if the first information processing apparatus requeststhat the control data be sent over the network to the second informationprocessing apparatus, then reads the control data from the storingelement before preparing an e-mail by attaching the retrieved controldata to the e-mail; and a sending element for sending the e-mailprepared by the preparing element to the second information processingapparatus over the network; wherein the first information processingapparatus comprises: a selecting element for initially controllingdisplay of program information provided by the program informationproviding apparatus over the network, before selecting the program fromamong the programs covered by the program information; and a requestingelement which, if the program is selected by the selecting element, thenrequests the program information providing apparatus to send the controldata to the second information processing apparatus over the network;and wherein the second information processing apparatus comprises: areceiving element for receiving the e-mail sent from the programinformation providing apparatus over the network; and a recordingcontrolling element for initially storing the control data attached tothe e-mail received by the receiving element, before controllingunattended recording of the program based on the stored control data.

[0044] Where the image recording system according to the tenth aspect ofthe invention is in use, if a first information processing apparatusrequests that control data about a desired TV program be sent over thenetwork, then the control data are retrieved from a program informationproviding apparatus and attached to an e-mail. The e-mail along with theattached control data is sent over the network to a second informationprocessing apparatus. Recording of the desired TV program is thencontrolled by the second information processing apparatus based on thecontrol data attached to the e-mail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0045]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional unattended recordingreservation setting screen;

[0046]FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another conventional unattendedrecording reservation setting screen;

[0047]FIG. 3 is a schematic view of another conventional unattendedrecording reservation setting screen;

[0048]FIG. 4 is a schematic view outlining a typical configuration of animage recording/reproduction system practiced as an embodiment of thisinvention;

[0049]FIG. 5 is an external view showing an overall external structureof a camera-equipped digital mobile telephone in the system;

[0050]FIG. 6 is an external view of a display unit as part of thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone;

[0051]FIG. 7 is a block diagram indicating an internal structure of thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone;

[0052]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a PDA in the system;

[0053]FIG. 9 is a front view of the PDA;

[0054]FIG. 10 is a block diagram depicting an electrical structure ofthe PDA;

[0055]FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a typical structure of apersonal computer in the system;

[0056]FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a typical structure of an imageprocessing board in the personal computer;

[0057]FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of application programs retained inthe camera-equipped digital mobile telephone;

[0058]FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of application programs held in thepersonal computer;

[0059]FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a TV program information screen;

[0060]FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a log-in screen;

[0061]FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a region selection screen;

[0062]FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a category selection screen;

[0063]FIG. 19 is a schematic view of another category selection screen;

[0064]FIG. 20 is a schematic view of another category selection screen;

[0065]FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a TV program information screen;

[0066]FIG. 22 is a schematic view of an example of unattended recordingreservation data;

[0067]FIG. 23 is a schematic view of a melody setting screen;

[0068]FIG. 24 is a flowchart of steps constituting a recordingreservation setting process;

[0069]FIG. 25 is a flowchart of steps constituting a recordingreservation data transmission process;

[0070]FIG. 26 is a schematic view of an e-mail screen;

[0071]FIG. 27 is a flowchart of steps constituting a recordingreservation data reception process;

[0072]FIG. 28 is a flowchart of detailed steps constituting thereservation process;

[0073]FIG. 29 is a schematic view showing an example of a channelconversion file;

[0074]FIG. 30 is a schematic view of another e-mail screen;

[0075]FIG. 31 is a schematic view of another e-mail screen;

[0076]FIG. 32 is a flowchart of detailed steps constituting acancellation process;

[0077]FIG. 33 is a schematic view of another e-mail screen;

[0078]FIG. 34 is a schematic view of another e-mail screen;

[0079]FIG. 35 is a flowchart of steps constituting an e-mail receptionprocess;

[0080]FIG. 36 is a flowchart of steps constituting a recording process;

[0081]FIG. 37 is a flowchart of steps constituting a TV programreservation process carried out by an image recording system;

[0082]FIG. 38 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 37;

[0083]FIG. 39 is a schematic view of a TV program reservation screen;

[0084]FIG. 40 is a schematic view of a TV listing screen;

[0085]FIG. 41 is a schematic view of a ringing melody setting screen;and

[0086]FIG. 42 is a flowchart of steps constituting a recordingreservation process implemented through voice recognition.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0087]FIG. 4 schematically outlines a typical configuration of an imagerecording/reproduction system practiced as a first preferred embodimentof this invention.

[0088] A camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and a PDA 2 areconnected to a public switched network 4 via base stations 3-1 and 3-2that function as fixed wireless terminals. Each base station 2 is set upin one of suitably apportioned geographical areas called cells coveredby a communication service. A personal computer 11 is also connected tothe public switched network 4.

[0089] The base stations 3-1 and 3-2 are wirelessly connected to thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA 2 (i.e., mobilewireless terminals) illustratively on a W-CDMA (Wideband-Code DivisionMultiple Access) basis. The wireless connection allows large quantitiesof data to be communicated between the two terminals at transfer speedsof up to 2 Mbps using a 2 GHz frequency band.

[0090] The base stations 3-1 and 3-2 are wired to the public switchednetwork 4. In turn, the public switched network 4 is connected to theInternet 8 as well as to wired subscriber terminal equipment, computernetworks and intranets, not shown.

[0091] As mentioned, the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 andPDA 2 can communicate large quantities of data with the base stations3-1 and 3-2 at high speed on a W-CDMA basis. The mobile wirelessterminals are thus capable of carrying out diverse kinds of datacommunication including sending and receiving of e-mails, browsing ofsimple-format websites, and exchanges of images.

[0092] The camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA 2 areconnected to an EPG (electronic program guide) server 10 via theInternet 8. In this setup, the wireless terminals may request the EPGserver 10 to send recording reservation data by which to reserveunattended recording of a desired TV program from a particular TVstation. As with the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA2, another personal computer 16 is connected to the EPG server 10 viathe Internet 8. The personal computer 16 may likewise request the EPGserver 10 to send recording reservation data by which to reserveunattended recording of a specific TV program from a certain TV station.

[0093] An access server 6 of an Internet service provider is connectednot only to the public switched network 4 but also to a content server 7of the ISP either directly or via the Internet 8.

[0094] In response to requests from the personal computers 11 and 16,the content server 7 provides the requesting PCs with content such aswebsite data in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) files. Also inresponse to requests from the wired subscriber terminal equipment,camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA 2, the content server7 provides the requesting apparatuses with such content as simple-formatwebsite data in compact HTML files.

[0095] The Internet 8 is also connected to numerous WWW (World Wide Web)servers 9-1 through 9-N and personal computers 16 set up withincorporations. The WWW servers 9-1 through 9-N are accessed in accordancewith TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) by thewired subscriber terminal equipment, camera-equipped mobile telephone 1,PDA 2, and personal computers 11 and 16.

[0096] The camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA 2communicate with the base stations 3-1 and 3-2 in keeping with asimple-format transport protocol at 2 Mbps. Communications take place asper TCP/IP between the base stations 3-1 and 3-2 on the one hand and theInternet 8 as well as the WWW servers 9-1 through 9-N on the other hand.

[0097] A management control unit 5 is connected to the wired subscriberterminal equipment, camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and PDA 2via the public switched network 4. In this setup, the management controlunit 5 carries out authentication and billing processes with regard tothe connected apparatuses.

[0098] The personal computer 11 inputs signals from an antenna 12 thatreceives radio waves from TV stations, reproduces images and sounds of agiven TV program from the input signals, and records the reproducedimages and sounds. The personal computer 11 is also supplied with analogsignals from a VCR (video cassette recorder) 13 or with digital datasent from a DVCR (digital video cassette recorder) 14 over a network 15such as an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394network. The PC 11 reproduces images and sounds from the suppliedsignals or data, and records the reproduced images and sounds.

[0099] In addition, the personal computer 11 feeds the VCR 13 withanalog signals or the DVCR 14 with digital data, the signals and thedata representing recorded images and sounds retrieved from storage.Furthermore, the personal computer 11 receives an e-mail over theInternet 8, and based on the recording reservation data that may beattached to the e-mail, reserves a desired TV program for subsequentunattended recording.

[0100] The EPG (electronic program guide) server 10 is a Web server thathas an EPG information database comprising EPG information (i.e., TVlistings) and recording reservation data for allowing desired TVprograms from specific TV stations to be reserved for unattendedrecording. The EPG server 10 also receives messages from thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1, PDA 2, and personal computer16 requesting transmission of the recording reservation data. Given amessage requesting a particular TV program name, the EPG server 10searches the EPG information database for the recording reservation dataapplicable to the requested TV program, attaches the retrievedreservation data to an e-mail, and sends the e-mail thus prepared to thepersonal computer 11 through the Internet 8, access server 6, and publicswitched network 4.

[0101]FIG. 5 is an external view showing an overall external structureof the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1. As shown in FIG. 5,the mobile telephone 1 is made up of a display unit 22 and a body 23.The two components are coupled by a centrally located hinge 21 in afoldable manner.

[0102] The display unit 22 has a retractable antenna 31 on its top leftportion. The camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 sends andreceives radio waves to and from the base station 3-1 (i.e., fixedwireless station) via the antenna 31.

[0103] The display unit 22 also has a camera unit 32 furnished at itstop center in a manner rotatable over a range of about 180 degrees. ACCD camera 33 in the camera unit 32 allows the user of the mobiletelephone 1 to take pictures of desired objects.

[0104] If the user positions the camera unit 32 by rotating it about 180degrees, the display unit 22 is positioned so that a speaker 34 at thecenter back of the camera unit 32 comes in front. In this state, thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 is switched to regular voicecommunication mode.

[0105] A liquid crystal display 35 is furnished on the front of thedisplay unit 22. The LCD 35 displays a radio wave reception state, abattery level, telephone directory entries including names, telephonenumbers and call records; e-mail text, simple-format website content,and images taken by the CCD camera 33 of the camera unit 32.

[0106] The body 23 comprises on its surface various operation keys 41including numeric keys 0 through 9, an off-hook key, a redial key, anon-hook/power key, a clear key, and an e-mail key. Operating any of theoperation keys 41 enters the corresponding instruction into thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1.

[0107] Under the operation keys 41 of the body 23 are a memo button 42and a microphone 43. Operating the memo button 42 causes the mobiletelephone 1 to record the other party's voice during the call. Themicrophone 43 of the telephone 1 picks up the user's voice while thecall is being effected.

[0108] A rotatable jog dial 44 is furnished above the operation keys 41on the body 23, in such a manner that the dial 44 slightly projects fromthe surface of the body 23. As the jog dial 44 is rotated, thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 accordingly performs diverseoperations on the LCD 35: scrolling up and down a telephone directorylist or an e-mail text, feeding pages of a simple-format website, orshifting an image from one display position to another.

[0109] For example, in response to the user's rotating operation of thejog dial 44, the body 23 may highlight a desired telephone number fromamong a plurality of telephone numbers in the telephone directory listdisplayed on the LCD 35, and select the highlighted number definitivelywhen the user pushes the jog dial 44 into the body 23. A call isautomatically placed to the telephone number thus selected.

[0110] The body 23 has a battery pack incorporated in its rear portion,not shown. Turning on the on-hook/power key causes the battery pack topower the internal circuits and brings the telephone into an operablestate.

[0111] In the top left-side portion of the body 23 is a memory stickslot 45 that can accommodate a Memory Stick (trademark) 51 in removablefashion. Pressing the memo button 42 causes the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1 to start recording the other party's voice into theMemory Stick 51 loaded in the slot 45. In response to the user'soperation, the mobile telephone 1 may store e-mail text, simple-formatwebsite content, and/or an image taken by the CCD camera 33 into theloaded Memory Stick 51.

[0112] The Memory Stick 51 is a flash memory card developed by SonyCorporation, i.e., this applicant. The Memory Stick 51 is housed in asmall, thin plastic enclosure which measures 21.5 mm high by 50 mm wideby 2.8 mm thick and which contains flash memory elements constituting anEEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory), anonvolatile memory to and from which data may be electrically writtenand erased. A 10-pin terminal permits writing and reading of data suchas images, voices and music to and from the Memory Stick 51.

[0113] The Memory Stick 51 adopts a proprietary serial protocol thatensures compatibility between devices comprising the memory each, evenwhere the specifications for a built-in flash memory are altered inorder to address an increased storage capacity. The protocol permitshigh-speed performance with write speeds of up to 1.5 MB/S and readspeeds of up to 2.45 MB/S. A write-protect switch designed to preventaccidental data erasure affords high reliability to the Memory Stick 51.

[0114] The camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 structured so asto accommodate the Memory Stick 51 may thus share data with otherelectronic devices that utilize the Memory Stick 51 in common.

[0115]FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting an internal structure of thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1. As shown in FIG. 7, themobile telephone 1 includes a main control unit 61 that provides overallcontrol on the display unit 22 and body 23. Inside the mobile telephone1 are the main control unit 61, a power supply circuit 65, an operationinput control unit 62, a video encoder 63, a camera interface (I/F) unit64, an LCD (liquid crystal display) control unit 66, amultiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68, a modem 69, and an audio codec 70,all interconnected via a main bus 71. Furthermore, the video encoder 63,a video decoder 67, the multiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68, a read/writeunit 73, the modem 69, and the audio codec 70 are interconnected via asynchronous bus 72.

[0116] When the user turns on the on-hook/power key, the power supplycircuit 65 causes the battery pack to power the circuits involved. Thisbrings the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 into an operablestate.

[0117] The main control unit 61 of the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 comprises a CPU (central processing unit), a ROM (read onlymemory) and a RAM (random access memory). Under control of the maincontrol unit 61, the mobile telephone 1 picks up a sound signal throughthe microphone 43 in voice communication mode and converts the acquiredsignal into digital sound data through the audio codec 70. The mobiletelephone 1 subjects the resulting digital sound data to aspread-spectrum encoding process of the modem 69. The processed data arearranged to undergo a digital-to-analog conversion process and afrequency conversion process of a transmitter-receiver circuit 74 beforebeing transmitted from the antenna 31.

[0118] In voice communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 receives a signal through the antenna 31, amplifies thereceived signal, and subjects the amplified signal to frequencyconversion and analog-to-digital conversion. The converted signal ismade to undergo a spread-spectrum decoding process of the modem 69before being converted to an analog sound signal by the audio codec 70.The mobile telephone 1 then causes the speaker 34 to output a soundcorresponding to the analog sound signal.

[0119] In data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 sends e-mail as follows: the input of e-mail text data isaccepted following the user's manipulation of the operation keys 41 andjog dial 44. The input text data are forwarded to the main control unit61 through the operation input control unit 62.

[0120] The main control unit 61 subjects the text data first tospread-spectrum coding of the modem 69 and then to digital-to-analogconversion and frequency conversion of the transmitter-receiver circuit74. The converted data are sent to the base station 3-1 via the antenna31.

[0121] Also in data communication mode, the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1 receives e-mail as follows: a signal carrying thee-mail is received from the base station 3-1 via the antenna 31. Thereceived signal is subjected to spread-spectrum decoding of the modem 69to restore the original text data. The text data are sent through theLCD control unit 66 to the LCD 35 for display thereon.

[0122] In response to the user's operation, the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1 may store received e-mails into the Memory Stick 51through the read/write unit 73.

[0123] In data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 may send image data acquired by the CCD camera 33. In thatcase, the image data are fed to the video encoder 63 through the camerainterface unit 64.

[0124] When not sending the image data obtained by the CCD camera 33,the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 may forward the datathrough the camera interface unit 64 and LCD control unit 66 to the LCD35 for direct display thereon.

[0125] The video encoder 63 converts the image data from the CCD camera33 illustratively into compression-coded image data using a suitablecoding method such as MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2) orMPEG-4. The image data thus coded are fed to themultiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68.

[0126] At the same time, any voice picked up by the microphone 43 duringimage pickup by the CCD camera 33 is converted to digital sound data bythe audio codec 70 of the mobile telephone 1. The digital sound data areforwarded to the multiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68.

[0127] The multiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68 multiplexes coded imagedata from the video encoder 63 with sound data from the audio codec 70using a predetermined method. The multiplexed data are subjected firstto spread-spectrum coding of the modem 69 and then to digital-to-analogconversion and frequency conversion of the transmitter-receiver circuit74. The converted data are transmitted via the antenna 31.

[0128] In data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 may receive dynamic image file data linked illustratively toa simple-format website as follows: a signal carrying the data isreceived from the base station 3-1 via the antenna 31. The receivedsignal is subjected to spread-spectrum decoding of the modem 69.Multiplexed data resulting from the decoding process by the modem 69 aresent to the multiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68.

[0129] The multiplexer-demultiplexer unit 68 demultiplexes themultiplexed data into coded image data and sound data. Over thesynchronous bus 72, the coded image data are sent to the video decoder67 and the sound data to the audio codec 70.

[0130] The video decoder 67 reproduces dynamic image data by decodingthe coded image data using a predetermined decoding method such asMPEG-2 or MPEG-4. The reproduced dynamic image data are supplied to theLCD 35 through the LCD control unit 66. The steps above allow thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 to display dynamic image dataacquired illustratively from a dynamic image file linked to asimple-format website.

[0131] At the same time, the audio codec 70 converts the sound data toan analog sound signal before sending the signal to the speaker 34. Thisenables the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 to reproduce thesound data acquired from the dynamic image file linked to thesimple-format website.

[0132] As in the case of e-mails, given the user's suitable operation,the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 may have the read/writeunit 73 write into the Memory Stick 51 the received data from linkedsimple-format websites.

[0133] An external structure of the PDA 2 is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and9. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the PDA 2 as it is held in the user'shand, and FIG. 9 is a front view of the PDA 2.

[0134] The PDA 2 has its body formed so as to be held in and operated byone hand. At the top of the PDA 2 is a slot for accommodating the MemoryStick 51 incorporating a semiconductor memory.

[0135] At the bottom of the PDA 2 is a USB (universal serial bus) portor the like, not shown, for accommodating a modem or similar deviceconnectable to the public switched network 4. The PDA 2 also has adisplay unit 81, keys 82, and a jog dial 83.

[0136] The display unit 81 is made up of a thinly formed display devicesuch as a liquid crystal display that displays icons, thumbnail images,and text. Under the display unit 81 is a touch pad 81 a that may bepushed by fingertips or by the tip of a stylus to enter data oroperating instructions into the PDA 2.

[0137] The keys 82 are operated by the user for input of variouscommands into a CPU 91 (see FIG. 10).

[0138] The jog dial 83 is rotated or pressed into the body to select anicon or a thumbnail on the display unit 81.

[0139]FIG. 10 is a block diagram depicting an electrical structure ofthe PDA 2. In the setup of FIG. 10, a CPU (central processing unit) 91runs an operating system and executes various application programs in aflash ROM (read-only memory) 93 or an EDO-DRAM (extended data-outdynamic random-access memory) 94 in synchronism with a clock signal froman oscillator 92.

[0140] The flash ROM 93 is made up of a flash memory, a variation ofEEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory). Generally,the flash ROM 93 accommodates basically fixed data as part of theprograms and operation parameters used by the CPU 91. The EDO-DRAM 94stores programs executed by the CPU 91, data needed for the programexecution, and parameters varied as needed during the execution.

[0141] A Memory Stick interface (I/F) 95 reads data from the MemoryStick 51 loaded into the PDA 2 and writes data coming from the CPU 91 tothe Memory Stick 51.

[0142] Acting in synchronism with a clock signal from an oscillator 97,a USB (universal serial bus) interface (I/F) 96 connected to a drive 111(i.e., a USB device) admits data and programs from the connected drive111 and supplies data coming from the CPU 91 to the drive 111.

[0143] The drive 111 is loaded as needed with a magnetic disc 121, anoptical disc 122, a magneto-optical disc 123, or a semiconductor memory124. The drive 111 reads data or programs from the loaded storage mediumand sends the retrieved data or programs to the CPU 91 or EDO-DRAM 94through the USB interface 96. In addition, the drive 111 writes data orprograms to the magnetic disc 121, optical disc 122, magneto-opticaldisc 123, or semiconductor memory 124 loaded therein.

[0144] The flash ROM 93, EDO-DRAM 94, Memory Stick interface 95, and USBinterface 96 are connected to the CPU 91 through an address bus and adata bus.

[0145] The display unit 81 receives data from the CPU 91 via an LCD busand displays images or characters representative of the received data.When the touch pad 81 a under the display unit 81 is operated on, atouch pad control unit 98 receives data corresponding to the operation(e.g., coordinates of the touched location on display) and feeds asignal representing the received data to the CPU 91 over a serial bus.

[0146] An EL (electroluminescence) driver 99 activateselectroluminescent devices at the back of the liquid crystal display ofthe display unit 81, controlling the brightness of display on thedisplay unit 81.

[0147] An infrared communication unit 100 receives data from the CPU 91in the form of an infrared signal through a UART (universal asynchronousreceiver-transmitter), sends the received data to an external apparatus,not shown, and receives an infrared signal from the external apparatusbefore supplying the signal to the CPU 91. The PDA 2 can alsocommunicate with other apparatuses via the UART.

[0148] A sound reproduction unit 102 is made up of a speaker, a sounddata decoding circuit, and other related parts. As such, the soundreproduction unit 102 decodes previously stored sound data or the sounddata received from an external apparatus, and reproduces the data foraudio output. Illustratively, the sound reproduction unit 102 receivessound data from the CPU 91 via a buffer 101 and reproduces the receiveddata for audio output.

[0149] A power supply circuit 103 is fed with a supply voltage eitherfrom an attached battery or from a connected AC (alternating current)adapter 113, and converts the voltage to necessary levels to power thecomponents ranging from the CPU 91 to the sound reproduction unit 102.

[0150] A communication unit 104 is connected illustratively to theInternet 8. Given data (e.g., e-mail) from the CPU 91, the communicationunit 104 puts the data into packets according to a predetermined method,and sends the packetized data to an external apparatus over the Internet8. The communication unit 104 also supplies the CPU 91 with the data orprograms that have been received in packets from the external apparatusover the Internet 8.

[0151]FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a typical structure of thepersonal computer 11. A CPU 131 executes an operating system (OS) andapplication programs on the personal computer 11. A ROM 132 accommodatesbasically fixed data as part of the programs and operation parametersused by the CPU 131. A RAM 133 stores programs executed by the CPU 131and parameters that are varied as needed during the execution. Thesecomponent parts are interconnected by a host bus 134.

[0152] The host bus 134 is connected via a bridge 135 to an external bus136 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect/Interface) bus.

[0153] A keyboard 138 is operated by the user to enter various commandsinto the CPU 131. A mouse 139 is manipulated by the user to point to andselect items on a CRT (cathode ray tube) 140 that displays diverse kindsof information in text and image. A hard disc drive (HDD) 141 and afloppy disc drive (FDD) 142 drive a hard disc and a floppy discrespectively so that programs and information to be handled by the CPU131 may be written to or read from the disc in question. Speakers 143are provided to reproduce sounds. The components ranging from thekeyboard 138 to the speakers 143 are connected to an interface 137. Inturn, the interface 137 is connected to the CPU 131 via the external bus136, bridge 135, and host bus 134.

[0154] An image processing board 144 under control of the CPU 131generates image and sound data based on signals coming from an antenna12, on image and sound analog signals from the VCR 13, or on image andsound digital data from the DVCR 14. The image and sound data thusgenerated are output to the HDD 141 over the external bus 136 andthrough the interface 137.

[0155] Furthermore, the image processing board 144 inputs image andsound data from the HDD 141 over the external bus 136 and through theinterface 137, generates analog signals corresponding to the input imageand sound data, and supplies the analog signals thus generated to theVCR 13. Alternatively, the image processing board 144 generates digitaldata corresponding to the input image and sound data and supplies thegenerated digital data to the DVCR 14 over the network 15.

[0156] The image processing board 144 is connected to the CPU 131 viathe external bus 136, bridge 135, and host bus 134.

[0157] A communication board 145 is a device designed to establishconnection with the public switched network 4. Illustratively, thecommunication board 145 may be constituted by an Ethernet (registeredtrademark) board connected to the CPU 131 via the external bus 136,bridge 135, and host bus 134.

[0158] Described below with reference to FIG. 12 is a detailed structureof the image processing board 144. In FIG. 12, a 1394 interface 151complies with the IEEE 1394 standards, and based on an IEEE1394-compatible protocol, receives image and sound digital data in DVCRformat from the DVCR 14 and forwards the received data to a DV (digitalvideo) data interface 152.

[0159] The 1394 interface 151 also receives image and sound digital datain DVCR format from the DV data interface 152 and supplies the receiveddata to the DVCR 14 in accordance with the IEEE 1394-compatibleprotocol.

[0160] The DV data interface 152 receives either image and sound digitaldata in DVCR format from the 1394 interface 151 or image and sounddigital data from a digital selector 157 (the data are uncompresseddigital data such as 4:1:1 data). The data thus received are forwardedto a DV data compression/decompression circuit 153. On receiving theimage and sound digital data in DVCR format from the DV datacompression/decompression circuit 153, the DV data interface 152forwards the received data to the 1394 interface 151. Given the imageand sound digital data (uncompressed data) from the DV datacompression/decompression circuit 153, the DV data interface 152 outputsthe data to the digital selector 157.

[0161] When receiving image and sound digital data in DVCR format fromthe DV data interface 152, the DV data compression/decompression circuit153 decompresses the received data and outputs the decompressed imageand sound digital data to the DV data interface 152. Upon receipt ofuncompressed image and sound digital data from the DV data interface152, the DV data compression/decompression circuit 153 compresses thereceived data and outputs the compressed image and sound digital data inDVCR format to the DV data interface 152.

[0162] A tuner 154 inputs RF (radio frequency) signals from the antenna12 and outputs to an analog selector 155 image and sound analog signalswhich, based on the RF signals, represent TV programs on specific TVchannels. The analog selector 155 selects the image and sound analogsignals from the tuner 154, from the VCR 13, or from a D/A(digital/analog) conversion circuit 161. The selected analog signals areoutput by the analog selector 155 to an A/D (analog/digital) conversioncircuit 156 or to the VCR 13.

[0163] The A/D conversion circuit 156 converts the image and soundanalog signals from the analog selector 155 into digital data andoutputs the converted data to the digital selector 157. On receivingimage and sound digital data from the DV data interface 152, from theA/D conversion circuit 156, and from an MPEG decoder 160, the digitalselector 157 selects the data from one of the sources and outputs theselected digital data to the DV data interface 152, to an MPEG encoder158, or to the D/A conversion circuit 161. The digital selector 157 alsooutputs the selected digital data to a bridge 159.

[0164] The MPEG encoder 158 compresses the image and sound digital datafrom the digital selector 157 into MPEG-format digital data and outputsthe compressed data to the bridge 159. The MPEG encoder 158 furtherconverts a scene switchover image into a still image and outputs theresulting still image to the bridge 159.

[0165] The bridge 159 receives image and sound digital data(uncompressed data) from the digital selector 157 and outputs thereceived data to the CRT 140 through the PCI bus 136 and interface 137of the personal computer 11 in which the image processing board 144 isincorporated. The bridge 159 also receives image and sound digital datain MPEG format from the MPEG encoder 158 and outputs the received datato the HDD 141 or to the CPU 131 via the PCI bus 136 of the personalcomputer 11 incorporating the board 144. Furthermore, the bridge 159receives image and sound digital data in MPEG format from the HDD 141 ofthe personal computer 11 through the PCI bus 136 and outputs thereceived data to the MPEG decoder 160.

[0166] The MPEG decoder 160 decompresses MPEG-format image and sounddigital data from the bridge 159 and outputs the decompressed data tothe digital selector 157.

[0167] The D/A conversion circuit 161 converts image and sound digitaldata from the digital selector 157 to analog format and outputs theresulting analog signals to the analog selector 155.

[0168] The processes executed by the MPEG encoder 158 and MPEG decoder160 may alternatively be implemented by the CPU 131 using suitableprograms.

[0169] The structure of the EPG server 10 and that of the personalcomputer 16 will not be described further; the structure is the same asthat of the personal computer 11 in FIG. 11 excluding the speakers 143and image processing board 144.

[0170]FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of application programs retained inthe camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 having what is known asthe i-mode (registered trademark) capability.

[0171] In keeping with appropriate protocols such as HTTP, a WWW browser171 gains access to simple-format websites established by the EPG server10 offering EPG information (TV listings, i.e., information about the TVprograms scheduled to be broadcast). The established connection allowsthe WWW browser 171 to receive compact HTML files over the Internet 8and displays images reflecting the received files.

[0172] A recording reservation setting program 172 sets recordingreservations based on the EPG information that is received and displayedby the WWW browser 171. The settings involve reserving desired TVprograms from particular TV stations for subsequent unattendedrecording.

[0173] A voice recognition program 173 recognizes voices that are inputby the user wishing to set recording reservations by use of themicrophone 43. The result of the recognition by the program 173 is sentto the recording reservation setting program 172.

[0174] An e-mail program 174 requests the access server 6 to forwarde-mails addressed to this mobile telephone. The self-addressed e-mailsare downloaded by the e-mail program 174. The e-mail program 174 alsorequests the access server 6 to send e-mails to their destinations.

[0175] A ringing melody reproduction program 175 permits associatingdesired music files with the mail addresses of registered senders whomay send e-mails. When an e-mail from one of the registered senders isreceived, the ringing melody reproduction program 175 automaticallyreproduces the music file corresponding to the sender.

[0176]FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of application programs held in thepersonal computer 11. A periodical boot-up resident timer program 176 isa program that automatically checks to see if any e-mail addressed tothis PC has arrived. The periodical boot-up resident timer program 176periodically boots the operating system while the personal computer 11is being turned off, and proceeds to boot a recording reservationprogram 177 and an e-mail program 178.

[0177] The recording reservation program 177 is booted in response to aboot-up request from the periodical boot-up resident timer program 176.Based on the recording reservation data attached to the incoming e-mailfrom the e-mail program 178, the recording reservation program 177reserves a specific TV program for subsequent unattended recording.

[0178] The e-mail program 178 is also booted in response to a boot-uprequest from the periodical boot-up resident timer program 176. Inoperation, the e-mail program 178 requests the access server 6 toforward e-mails addressed to this personal computer. The self-addressede-mails are downloaded by the e-mail program 178. The e-mail program 178also requests the access server 6 to send e-mails to their destinations.

[0179] How the above-described first embodiment of this invention workswill now be described. With the embodiment in operation, thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 is used to reserve a desiredTV program for unattended recording and to request the EPG server 10 tosend a reservation mail (i.e., an e-mail with an attachment of recordingreservation data). Given the transmission request, the EPG server 10sends the e-mail along with the attachment of the recording reservationdata (i.e., reservation mail) to the personal computer 11 via theInternet 8, access server 6, and public switched network 4, and theunattended recording is executed.

[0180] Described below in detail is how the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1 is operated to set an unattended recordingreservation with regard to the personal computer 11 at a remote location(i.e., the user's household).

[0181] When the user away from home decides to reserve a particular TVprogram for unattended recording, the user first enters a specific keycommand using the operation keys 41 on the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1. The user's operation boots the WWW browser 171.

[0182] In turn, the main control unit 61 of the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1 running the WWW browser 171 receives a compact HTMLfile offered by the EPG server 10 over the Internet 8. With the filereceived, the main control unit 61 displays on the liquid crystaldisplay 35 a TV program information screen (top page) as shown in FIG.15.

[0183] The TV program information screen in FIG. 15 indicates fourcategories: registered user, unregistered user, service rules, andexplanation of functions. The “registered user” category may be selectedby the user who has registered to receive the recording reservationservice. The “unregistered user” category is selected by the user whohas yet to register so as to receive the recording reservation service.The “service rules” category is selected if it is desired to look up therules for the recording reservation service. The “explanation offunctions” category is selected by the user wishing to read explanationsof various functions regarding the recording reservation service.

[0184] Illustratively, the user may rotate the jog dial 44 to highlightthe “unregistered user” indication in the TV program information screenon the liquid crystal display 35. With the “unregistered user”indication highlighted, pressing the jog dial 44 into the body 23selects the highlighted category. The selection boots the recordingreservation setting program 172 and displays a registration screen, notshown, in which the unregistered user can make registration entriespreparatory to receiving the recording reservation service.Specifically, the unregistered user may enter into the registrationscreen such user information as the user's name, password, e-mailaddress of the mobile telephone, e-mail address at the location forunattended recording reservation (i.e., user's household), and user'sbirthday. Entering the relevant information allows the user to acquirefrom the EPG server 10 a unique user ID granting the right to receivethe recording reservation service.

[0185] In another example, the user may select the “registered user”category by operating the jog dial 44. In this case, the recordingreservation setting program 172 is booted and the EPG server 10 isrequested to provide the recording reservation service. The main controlunit 61 running the recording reservation setting program 172 receives acompact HTML file from the EPG server 10 over the Internet 8, anddisplays on the liquid crystal display 35 a log-in screen as shown inFIG. 16.

[0186] The log-in screen in FIG. 16 indicates fields into which to entera user ID and a password. The registered user enters his or her user IDand password into the respective fields and selects a button named “GO.”This causes the user information (i.e., user ID and password) to be sentto the EPG server 10. Based on the transmitted user information, the EPGserver 10 looks up from storage the relevant e-mail address of thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 and e-mail address of thepersonal computer 11 in the user's household.

[0187] After log-on to the recording reservation service, the maincontrol unit 61 receives another compact HTML file from the EPG server10 and displays on the liquid crystal display 35 a region selectionscreen as shown in FIG. 17.

[0188] The region selection screen in FIG. 17 indicates five regions inJapan: Hokkaido, Kanto, Chubu, Kansai, and Fukuoka. Selecting any one ofthe displayed regions permits subsequent display of TV programinformation corresponding to the selected region. If a particular regionwas previously selected during the user registration process, it ispossible to skip the display of the region selection screen.

[0189] For example, suppose now that the user operates the jog dial 44to select the “Kanto” region in the TV program information screen on theliquid crystal display 35. In this case, the main control unit 61receives another compact HTML file from the EPG server 10 and displayson the liquid crystal display 35 a category selection screen as shown inFIG. 18.

[0190] The category selection screen in FIG. 18 indicates fourcategories: today's programs, tomorrow's programs, service rules, andexplanation of functions. The “today's programs” category is selectedwhen it is desired to look up information about the TV programsscheduled to be broadcast this day. The “tomorrow's programs” categoryis selected by the user wishing to look up information about the TVprograms scheduled to be broadcast the next day. The “service rules”category is selected where the rules for the recording reservationservice are to be looked up. The “explanation of functions” category isselected if the user wants to read explanations of various functionsregarding the recording reservation service.

[0191] Illustratively, the user may operate the jog dial 44 to selectthe “tomorrow's programs” category in the category selection screen onthe liquid crystal display 35. The selection causes the main controlunit 61 to receive another compact HTML file from the EPG server 10 anddisplays on the liquid crystal display 35 a category selection screenregarding the “tomorrow's programs” category as shown in FIG. 19.

[0192] The category selection screen in FIG. 19 indicates eightsubordinate categories about the “tomorrow's programs” category: movies,dramas, sports, music, variety shows, living and hobbies, city news, andculture. Any one of the eight categories may be selected by the userwishing to look up information about those TV programs in the selectedcategory which are scheduled to be broadcast the next day.

[0193] For example, suppose that the user operates the jog dial 44 toselect the “sports” category in the category selection screen on theliquid crystal display 35. In this case, the main control unit 61receives another compact HTML file from the EPG server 10 and displayson the liquid crystal display 35 a category selection screen applicableto the “sports” category as shown in FIG. 20.

[0194] The category selection screen in FIG. 20 indicates a number ofsubordinate categories regarding the “sports” category, including“Olympic Games 07:55,” “Olympic Games 08:35,” “news 10:00,” and“profession baseball 19:00.” The “Olympic Games 07:55” category isselected in order to look up information about the Olympic Games-relatedprograms to be broadcast starting at 7:55 in the morning; the “OlympicGames 08:35” category is selected so as to look up information about theOlympic Games-related programs to be broadcast starting at 8:35 in themorning; the “news 10:00” category is selected if the user wants to lookup information about the news programs to be broadcast starting at 10:00in the morning; and the “professional baseball 19:00” category isselected where it is desired to look up information about theprofessional baseball-related programs starting at 7:00 in the evening.

[0195] Illustratively, the user may proceed to operate the jog dial 44so as to select the “professional baseball 19:00” category in thecategory selection screen on the liquid crystal display 35. Theselection causes the main control unit 61 to receive another compactHTML file from the EPG server 10 and displays on the liquid crystaldisplay 35 a TV program information screen regarding professionalbaseball as shown in FIG. 21.

[0196] The TV program information screen shown in FIG. 21 displaysdetailed TV program information about the currently selected“professional baseball” category. Illustratively, suppose that the userchecks the detailed program information about the “professionalbaseball” category in FIG. 21 in order to reserve the displayed TVprogram for unattended recording. In such a case, the user selects abutton indicated as “Reserve iEPG.” The selection causes the maincontrol unit 61 to request the EPG server 10 to send relevant recordingreservation data to the designated destination (i.e., to the personalcomputer 11 in the user's household in this example).

[0197] Given the transmission request, the EPG server 10 searches theEPG information database, not shown, for the recording reservation datadesigned to reserve the requested TV program, attaches the retrievedreservation data to an e-mail, and sends the e-mail thus prepared to thepersonal computer 11 through the Internet 8, access server 6, and publicswitched network 4.

[0198]FIG. 22 is a schematic view of an example of unattended recordingreservation data. The recording reservation data are composed of textdata. The first line “Subject: TVPI200006021900” in the recordingreservation data constitutes a control command for executing unattendedrecording. The second line“Content-type:application/x-tv-program-info;charset-shift_jis”represents recording reservation data. The fourth line following adescription “station:” contains data for specifying a TV channel whoseprogram is to be recorded. Illustratively in FIG. 22, the fourth line“station: Nihon TV (trademark)” designates Nihon TV whose program is tobe reserved for unattended recording.

[0199] At the same time, the fifth through the eighth lines in therecording reservation data describe data for specifying the date andtime at which to start recording. The ninth line describes data fordesignating a recording stop time.

[0200] The recording reservation data for unattended recording accordingto this invention are described in what is known as a TVPI (TelevisionProgram-Info) format. In the description that follows, a set ofrecording reservation data will be referred to as a TVPI file whereappropriate.

[0201] As will be described later, on receiving an e-mail from the EPGserver 10, the personal computer 11 writes to the HDD 141 recordingreservation data (FIG. 22) attached to the received e-mail and makes anunattended recording reservation based on the received recordingreservation data. When the recording reservation is completed, thepersonal computer 11 sends a message (e-mail) announcing the completionto the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone. If the mobile telephone1 has the mail address of the personal computer 11 associated beforehandwith a music file of a desired ringing melody, the arrival of an e-mailfrom the personal computer 11 is announced by that melody to the mobiletelephone user.

[0202] How a desired ringing melody is reproduced upon receipt of ane-mail will now be described. The user boots the ringing melodyreproduction program 175 by inputting an appropriate key command usingthe operation keys 41 of the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1.This prompts the main control unit 61 of the mobile telephone 1executing the ringing melody reproduction program 175 to display ascreen for setting a reservation complete announcement melody on theliquid crystal display 35, as shown in FIG. 23.

[0203] The melody setting screen in FIG. 23 indicates a number ofchoices: Melody_A, Melody_B, Melody_C, Melody_(—)1, Melody_(—)2, andMelody_(—)3.

[0204] Illustratively, suppose that the user selects “Melody_A” in themelody setting screen using the jog dial 44. In such a case, the musicfile of the selected melody is brought into correspondence with apreviously defined destination (e-mail address of the personal computer11 in the user's household in this example). The corresponding musicfile is stored into the Memory Stick 51.

[0205] Upon receipt of an e-mail from the personal computer 11, the maincontrol unit 61 executing the ringing melody reproduction program 175extracts header information from the received e-mail, retrieves from theMemory Stick 51 the music file corresponding to the e-mail address ofthe sender in the header information, and outputs the retrieved file tothe speaker 34.

[0206] As described, where the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone1 has a desired music file associated in advance with the e-mail addressof the personal computer 11, the previously established ringing melodyannounces the arrival (i.e., reception) of a message from the personalcomputer 11 saying that unattended recording reservation is nowcomplete.

[0207] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 24 is howan unattended recording reservation is carried out by thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1. In step S1, the main controlunit 61 of the mobile telephone 1 executing the recording reservationsetting program 172 connects to the EPG server 10 over the Internet 8.In step S2, the main control unit 61 judges whether the user hasreserved unattended recording of a given TV program. The main controlunit 61 waits for such a recording reservation to be made.

[0208] When a given TV program is judged reserved for unattendedrecording in step S2, step S3 is reached. In step S3, the main controlunit 61 requests the EPG server 10 to send an e-mail to the personalcomputer 11 together with an attachment of data denoting the recordingreservation that has just been established. In step S4, the main controlunit 61 disconnects from the EPG server 10 and terminates the process.

[0209] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 25 is howthe EPG server 10 attaches recording reservation data to an e-mail so asto send the e-mail together with the attachment to the personal computer11.

[0210] In step S11, the CPU (not shown) of the EPG server 10 judgeswhether a request is received from the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 for sending recording reservation data. The CPU waits forsuch a recording reservation data transmission request to be received.

[0211] When the recording reservation data transmission request isjudged received in step S11, step S12 is reached. In step S12, the CPUof the EPG server 10 attaches the recording reservation data (FIG. 22)to an e-mail. Illustratively, as shown in FIG. 26 and based on theuser's operations, the EPG server 10 describes an e-mail destinationaddress such as “foo@aa.ne.com” (of the personal computer 11) following“TO:,” an e-mail sender address “foo@aa.doco.ne.jp” (of thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 following “FROM:,” data“TVPI200006021900” following “Subject:,” and an icon 180, in order tomake up the e-mail. The icon 180 indicates that actual data“TVPI200006021900” (FIG. 22) are attached to the e-mail. The numericcharacters following “TVPI” denote the start date and start time (i.e.,at 19:00 on Jun. 2, 2000) of unattended recording.

[0212] In step S13, the CPU of the EPG server 10 sends the e-mailtogether with the recording reservation data attached in step S11 to thepersonal computer 11 via the Internet 8, access server 6, and publicswitched network 4, and terminates the process.

[0213] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 27 is howthe personal computer 11 receives and processes recording reservationdata. In step S21, the CPU 131 of the personal computer 11 executing theperiodical boot-up resident timer program 176 judges whether apredetermined time period (e.g., 10 minutes) has elapsed. The CPU 131waits for the predetermined time to elapse. When the predetermined timeis judged to have elapsed in step S21, step S22 is reached. In step S22,the CPU 131 boots the operating system from its turned-off state beforebooting the recording reservation program 177 and e-mail program 178.The CPU 131 executing the e-mail program 178 outputs a suitable controlsignal to the communication board 145 in order to call up the accessserver 6 through the public switched network 4 to see if any e-mail(such as that shown in FIG. 26) addressed to the personal computer 11has arrived.

[0214] If in step S22 no e-mail addressed to the personal computer 11 isjudged to have arrived, step S21 is reached again and the subsequentsteps are repeated. When an e-mail addressed to the personal computer 11is judged to have arrived in step S22, step S23 is reached. In step S23,the CPU 131 reads the e-mail from the access server 6 via the publicswitched network 4 and communication board 145, and stores into the RAM133 the recording reservation data (TVPI file) attached to the e-mail.

[0215] In step S24, the CPU 131 executing the recording reservationprogram 177 retrieves from the RAM 133 the recording reservation dataplaced there in step S23, and judges whether the data include a commandcharacter string containing a control command. If the e-mail is notjudged to include a command character string containing a controlcommand, step S21 is reached again and the subsequent steps arerepeated.

[0216] If in step S24 the e-mail is judged to include a commandcharacter string containing a control command, then step S25 is reached.In step S25, the CPU 131 judges whether the command character string is“TVPI.”

[0217] If in step S25 the command character string is judged to be“TVPI” (in the example of FIG. 22, the command character string is“TVPI200006021900”), step S26 is reached. In step S26, the CPU 131performs a reservation process.

[0218] More detailed steps constituting the reservation process abovewill now be described by referring to the flowchart of FIG. 28. In stepS41, the CPU 131 executing the recording reservation program 177 judgeswhether the settings (parameters) in the command character string “TVPI”are normal, i.e., whether any recording reservation data (TVPI file)previously established and recorded on the hard disc drive 141 do notoverlap in part with the recording time of the recording reservationdata received this time.

[0219] If in step S41 the settings are judged normal (i.e., therecording times dot not overlap), then step S42 is reached. In step S42,the CPU 131 extracts the parameters from the recording reservation data(TVPI file).

[0220] The parameters extracted from the TVPI file include data fordetermining a TV channel whose program is to be recorded. The data areallowed to be described ambiguously within a predetermined range.Illustratively, the parameters are converted to data for designating aspecific TV channel (i.e., TV station) in a process using a channelconversion file, as shown in FIG. 29.

[0221] The channel conversion file illustratively includes a characterstring “4,0,0,4, Nihon.TV, Nihon TV, Nittele, Nihon TV BroadcastingNetwork (trademarks), NTV.” In this character string, the leftmostnumeric character “4” specifies a channel number; the numeric character“4” on the right of the third comma from left denotes a channel numberindication; the character string “Nihon TV” on the right of the fourthcomma from left denotes a channel name indication; and the characterstrings on the right of the fifth comma from left (“Nihon TV, Nittele,Nihon TV Broadcasting Network, NTV,” delimited by commas) ensure a matchof the channel data with an applicable character string in the channelconversion file.

[0222] For example, if the fourth line in the recording reservation datahas a description “station: Nihon TV,” then the recording reservationprogram 177 judges whether the character string “Nihon TV” following“station:” matches the character string on the right of the fifth commafrom left in the channel conversion file.

[0223] As shown in FIG. 29, where the channel conversion file containsthe character string “4,0,0,4, Nihon TV, Nihon TV, Nittele, Nihon TVBroadcasting Network, NTV,” the recording reservation program 177 judgesthat the character string “Nihon TV” (on the right of the fifth commafrom left) has matched one of the character strings in the channelconversion file.

[0224] When the character string in the recording reservation data isjudged to match the relevant character string in the channel conversionfile, the recording reservation program 177 establishes as thedesignated channel the data for determining the channel in the same rowas the matched character string in the channel conversion file.

[0225] As a result, where the character string for designating the TVchannel in the recording reservation data is any one of “Nihon TV,”“Nittele,” “Nihon TV Broadcasting Network” and “NTV,” the recordingreservation program 177 sets the channel to “4” based on the recordingreservation data.

[0226] As described, even if the character string for specifying thechannel in the recording reservation data are somewhat ambiguous, therecording reservation program 177 can still establish an appropriatechannel on the basis of the recording reservation data.

[0227] Returning to step S43 in FIG. 28, the CPU 131 writes to the harddisc drive 141 the parameters extracted in step S42, and starts up arecording timer.

[0228] In step S44, the CPU 131 prepares an e-mail such as one shown inFIG. 30 to ask the mobile telephone user to confirm what has beenreserved for unattended recording. The e-mail thus prepared is sent tothe camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 through the communicationboard 145 and over the public switched network 4.

[0229] The e-mail shown in FIG. 30 describes a message saying “Therecording reservation now complete. Reservation No.: 2.” The e-mail maydescribe not only the message reporting the completion of a recordingreservation, but also such information as the program name, recordingstart time, recording stop time, and recording mode. The user of themobile telephone 1 having received the e-mail gets to know that therecording reservation is now complete.

[0230] Returning to step S41 in FIG. 28, if the settings are not judgednormal, i.e., if any previously established recording reservation dataare found to overlap in part with the recording time in the recordingreservation data received this time, then step S45 is reached. In stepS45, the CPU 131 prepares an e-mail such as one in FIG. 31 so as to askthe mobile telephone user to confirm that the settings are faulty. Thee-mail thus prepared is sent to the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 through the communication board 145 and over the publicswitched network 4.

[0231] The e-mail shown in FIG. 31 has a message saying that “Data forreservation No. 1 overlap in part with existing data on recording times.Reservation is impossible.” The e-mail may contain not only the messagereporting the inability to reserve a desired TV program but also adescription of such information as the previously reserved TV programname together with its recording start time and recording stop time. Theuser of the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 having receivedthe e-mail comes to know that the desired recording reservation is notavailable.

[0232] Again in FIG. 28, control is returned from step S44 or S45 tostep S26 in FIG. 27. From step S26, step S21 is reached once more andthe subsequent steps are repeated.

[0233] If in step S25 the command character string is not judged to be“TVPI,” then step S27 is reached. In step S27, the CPU 131 judgeswhether the command character string is “Cancel.”

[0234] If in step S27 the command character string is judged to be“Cancel,” then step S28 is reached. In step S28, the CPU 131 performs acancellation process.

[0235] Detailed steps of the cancellation process above will now bedescribed by referring to the flowchart of FIG. 32.

[0236] In step S61, the CPU 131 executing the recording reservationprogram 177 judges whether the designated recording reservation dataexist, i.e., whether the recording reservation data in question arestored on the hard disc drive 141. If the specified recordingreservation data are judged to exist, step S62 is reached.

[0237] In step S62, the CPU 131 deletes the designated recordingreservation data from the hard disc drive 141. In step S63, the CPU 131prepares an e-mail such as one shown in FIG. 33 in order to notify themobile telephone user that the recording reservation data have beendeleted. The e-mail is sent to the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 through the communication board 145 and over the publicswitched network 4.

[0238] The e-mail shown in FIG. 33 comprises a message saying that “Therecording reservation is deleted. Reservation No.: 2.” The e-mail mayinclude not only the message reporting the deletion of the recordingreservation but also a description of such information as the TV programname along with the recording start time, recording stop time andrecording mode reserved for recording. The user of the camera-equippeddigital mobile telephone 1 having received the e-mail comes to know thatthe recording reservation data with reservation No. 2 have been deleted.

[0239] Returning to step S61 in FIG. 32, if the designated recordingreservation data are not judged to exist, then step S64 is reached. Instep S64, the CPU 131 prepares an e-mail such as one shown in FIG. 34 inorder to inform the mobile telephone user that the specified recordingreservation data cannot be deleted. The e-mail is sent to thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 through the communicationboard 145 and over the public switched network 4.

[0240] The e-mail shown in FIG. 34 includes a message saying that“Reservation No. 1 is not found and the reservation data cannot bedeleted.” The e-mail may contain not only the message reporting theinability to delete the recording reservation data but also adescription of such information as the name of the specified TV programname. The user of the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 havingreceived the e-mail comes to know that the recording reservation datawith reservation No. 2 could not be deleted.

[0241] Again in step S32, control is returned from step S63 or S64 tostep S28 in FIG. 27. From step S28, step S21 is reached once more andthe subsequent steps are repeated.

[0242] As described, the personal computer 11 automatically carries outa recording reservation based on the recording reservation data attachedto an incoming e-mail.

[0243] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 35 is ane-mail reception process performed by the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1. In step S81, the main control unit 61 of the mobiletelephone 1 executing the e-mail program 174 receives an e-mailaddressed to the telephone user (e.g., e-mail shown in FIG. 30). In stepS82, the main control unit 61 extracts mail header information from thee-mail received in step S81.

[0244] In step S83, the main control unit 61 reads the sender's e-mailaddress (“foo@aa.ne.com” in this case) from the e-mail headerinformation extracted in step S82. In step S84, the main control unit 61judges whether a music file is associated with the e-mail addressretrieved in step S83, i.e., the unit 61 determines by referencing theMemory Stick 51 whether the e-mail address read in step S83 is storedthere and whether the e-mail address is associated with any music file.

[0245] If in step S84 the e-mail address is judged associated with amusic file, step S85 is reached. In step S85, the main control unit 61retrieves from the Memory Stick 51 a music file “Melody_A” (shown inFIG. 23) associated with the e-mail address and outputs the retrievedfile to the audio codec 70. The audio codec 70 converts the input musicfile into an analog signal and causes the speaker 34 to output a sound(ringing melody) corresponding to that analog signal.

[0246] If in step S84, the e-mail address is not judged associated withany music file, then step S86 is reached. In step S86, the main controlunit 61 causes the speaker 34 to output a predetermined usual sound(ringing melody).

[0247] Step S85 or S86 is followed by step S87 in which the main controlunit 61 causes the liquid crystal display 35 to display the receivede-mail (FIG. 30). This terminates the process.

[0248] As described, the user of the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1 can verify by an incoming e-mail whether the recordingreservation has been completed by the personal computer 11. Beforereceiving an e-mail from the personal computer 11, the mobile telephoneuser may associate a desired music file with the e-mail address of thePC 11. This allows the mobile telephone 1 to output a different ringingmelody from the usual one upon receipt of an e-mail, unmistakablyinforming the user that the incoming e-mail is about the recordingreservation.

[0249] Furthermore, the personal computer 11 may send to thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 not only the e-mailascertaining the completion of the recording reservation but alsoanother e-mail (not shown), illustratively 30 minutes before therecording start time of the reserved TV program in question, saying that“The recording of reservation No. 1 starts in 30 minutes.” The seconde-mail allows the user to reconfirm the recording reservation, and ifnecessary, to cancel the reservation at this point.

[0250] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 36 is arecording process carried out by the personal computer 11. In step S91,the CPU 131 of the personal computer 11 executing the recordingreservation program 177 reads the recording reservation data (TVPI file)from the hard disc drive 141. In step S92, the CPU 131 reads the currenttime from an RTC (real time clock), not shown.

[0251] In step S93, the CPU 131 compares the recording start timeincluded in the recording reservation data read in step S91, with thecurrent time read in step S92, to determine whether to start recordingthe reserved program.

[0252] If it is determined in step S93 to start the recording, step S94is reached. In step S94, the CPU 131 starts recording the reservedprogram.

[0253] Illustratively, if the recording reservation data retrieved instep S91 are the data shown in FIG. 22, then the CPU 131 orders thetuner 154 to select “Channel 4.” The tuner 154 admits RF signals fromthe antenna 12 and outputs image and sound analog signals on thedesignated channel (i.e., channel 4 in this case) to the VCR 13 throughthe analog selector 155. In turn, the VCR 13 records the supplied imageand sound signals onto a video cassette, loaded but not shown.

[0254] In step S95, the CPU 131 reads the current time from the RTC, notshown. In step S96, the CPU 131 compares the current time with therecording stop time included in the recording reservation data retrievedfrom the hard disc drive 141, in order to determine whether to stop therecording.

[0255] If it is determined in step S96 that the recording is yet to bestopped, step S94 is reached again and the subsequent steps arerepeated.

[0256] If in step S96 it is determined that the recording is to bestopped, then step S97 is reached in which the recording is terminated.Thereafter control is returned to step S91 and the subsequent steps arerepeated.

[0257] As described, the personal computer 11 receives an e-mailtogether with an attachment of recording reservation data and stores thereceived recording reservation data onto the hard disc drive 141. Therecording reservation data thus stored permit the personal computer 11automatically to perform unattended recording of the reserved program.

[0258] The steps carried out as described above by the devices involvedare summarized in mutually associated fashion in FIGS. 37 and 38.Described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 37 and 38 is areservation process performed by an image recording system as a wholeaccording to the invention.

[0259] In step S101, the main control unit 61 of the camera-equippeddigital mobile telephone 1 executing the recording reservation settingprogram 172 gains access to the EPG server 10 via the Internet 8.

[0260] In step S110, the CPU (not shown) of the EPG server 10 whenaccessed by the mobile telephone 1 distributes a top page (FIG. 15) tothe telephone 1.

[0261] In step S102, the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1receives entries of a user ID and a password from the user into a log-inscreen (FIG. 16) that appears upon selection of, say, the “Registereduser” category in the top page of FIG. 15. Information about the userwho has thus logged in is sent to the EPG server 10.

[0262] In step S111, the EPG server 10 determines both the e-mailaddress of a reservation source (i.e., camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1) and the e-mail address of a reservation destination (i.e.,personal computer 11) based on the user information that has arrivedfrom the mobile telephone 1.

[0263] In step S103, the main control unit 61 of the camera-equippeddigital mobile telephone 1 allows the user to reserve a desired TVprogram for unattended recording. When the recording reservation is set(e.g., by the user selecting a button indicated as “Reserve by iEPG” onthe TV program information screen of FIG. 21), the main control unit 61requests the EPG server 10 to send the recording reservation data to thedesignated reservation destination.

[0264] In step S112, in response to the transmission request from thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1, the EPG server 10 searchesthe EPG information database (not shown) for the recording reservationdata (FIG. 22) about a particular TV program of a specific TV station,retrieves the applicable recording reservation data, and prepares ane-mail (reservation mail) together with an attachment of the retrievedreservation data. In step S113, the EPG server 10 sends the reservationmail (i.e., e-mail with the recording reservation data attached)prepared in step S112 to the access server 6 over the Internet 8.

[0265] In step S121, the CPU (not shown) of the access server 6 receivesthe reservation mail from the EPG server 10 and stores the received mailonto that mail spool on the HDD (hard disc drive) which is allocated tothe reservation destination (i.e., personal computer 11).

[0266] In step S131, the CPU 131 of the personal computer 11 executingthe periodical boot-up resident timer program 176 boots the OS from itsdeactivated state upon elapse of a predetermined time period beforebooting the e-mail program 178. In step S132, the CPU 131 executing thee-mail program 178 calls up the access server 6 to check whether anye-mail addressed to the PC 11 (e.g., e-mail shown in FIG. 26) hasarrived.

[0267] In step S122, the access server 6 when accessed by the personalcomputer 11 transfers to the PC 11 the reservation mail (i.e., e-mailwith the recording reservation attached) that was placed on the mailspool in step S121.

[0268] In step S133, the CPU 131 of the personal computer 11 executingthe e-mail program 178 receives the reservation mail from the accessserver 6 and interprets the received e-mail. The CPU 131 extracts therecording reservation data (TVPI file) from the e-mail. In step S134,the CPU 131 exports (i.e., writes) the data format of the TVPI fileextracted in step S133 to a data format that can be read by therecording reservation program 177.

[0269] In step S141, the CPU 131 of the personal computer 11 executingthe periodical boot-up resident timer program 176 boots the OS from itsdeactivated state upon elapse of a predetermined time period beforebooting the recording reservation program 177. In step S142, the CPU 131executing the recording reservation program 177 imports the TVPI filethat has been exported from the e-mail program 178.

[0270] In step S143, the CPU 131 executing the recording reservationprogram 177 carries out a reservation process of the TV program to berecorded unattended. The reservation process is the same as step S21through S23 in the flowchart of FIG. 28 and thus will not be describedfurther. In step S144, the CPU 131 executing the recording reservationprogram 177 informs the e-mail program 178 that the reservation has beencompleted.

[0271] In step S135 of FIG. 38, the CPU 131 executing the e-mail program178 is informed of the completion of the reservation by the recordingreservation program 177 and prepares a return mail (FIG. 30) containinga message saying that the recording reservation is now complete. In stepS136, the CPU 131 executing the e-mail program 178 sends the return mailprepared in step S135 to the access server 6 over the Internet 8.

[0272] In step S123, the CPU (not shown) of the access server 6transfers to the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 the returnmail sent from the personal computer 11.

[0273] In step S104, the main control unit 61 of the mobile telephone 1executing the e-mail program 174 receives the return mail transferredthrough the access server 6. Upon receipt of the return mail, thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 displays the content of themail on the liquid crystal display 35. By looking at the display (of thereturn mail), the user is able to know that the recording reservation iscompleted.

[0274] As described, the user away from home carrying thecamera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 may wish to have a desired TVprogram reserved remotely for unattended recording by the personalcomputer 11 in the user's household. In such a case, the user makesnecessary settings of a recording reservation by having recourse to therecording reservation service offered by the EPG server 10. The EPGserver 10 is requested to send the settings constituting the recordingreservation data. Given the transmission request, the EPG server 10sends to the personal computer 11 an e-mail with an attachment of therecording reservation data thus prepared. On receiving the e-mail, thepersonal computer 11 can make the recording reservation based on therecording reservation data attached to the e-mail.

[0275] In the foregoing description, the user away from home was shownusing his or her camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 to have adesired TV program reserved remotely for unattended recording by thepersonal computer 11 in the user's household. However, the mobiletelephone-based reservation is not limitative of the invention.Alternatively, any of the personal computer 16 set up insidecorporations may be used to have a desired recording reservation made bythe personal computer 11 in the user's household.

[0276] What follows is a description of a second embodiment of thisinvention wherein the personal computer 16 is used to have a recordingreservation made by the personal computer 11 in the user's household.With the second embodiment in operation, the user employs the personalcomputer 16 to make an unattended recording reservation of a desired TVprogram. The personal computer 16 then requests the EPG server 10 tosend the reservation mail. Given the transmission request, the EPGserver 10 sends an e-mail with an attachment of the recordingreservation data via the Internet 8, access server 6, and publicswitched network 4 to the personal computer 11 for recordingreservation.

[0277] How the personal computer 16 is used to have a desired recordingreservation established by the remotely located personal computer 11 (inthe user's household) is explained more specifically below. It isassumed that the application programs held by the personal computer 16are the same as those possessed by the camera-equipped digital mobiletelephone 1, discussed earlier with reference to FIG. 13.

[0278] Suppose now that the user, who has completed the userregistration to make use of the recording reservation service, wants toreserve a desired TV program for unattended recording from inside thecorporation he or she works for. In that case, the user operates thekeyboard and mouse (both not shown) of the personal computer 16 to entera predetermined key command for booting the WWW browser 171.

[0279] The personal computer 16 executing the WWW browser 171 thenreceives an HTML file from the EPG server 10 via the Internet 8, anddisplays on a CRT (not shown) a TV program information screen (top page)as shown in FIG. 39.

[0280] Illustratively, the user selects a “Recording Reservation” button181 on the TV program information screen. Selecting the button boots therecording reservation setting program 172 and requests the EPG server 10to provide the recording reservation service. The personal computer 16executing the recording reservation setting program 172 receives an HTMLfile from the EPG server 10 over the Internet 8 and gives on the CRT adisplay of TV listings such as those in FIG. 40 reflecting the receivedfile. The TV listings include request buttons 191-1 through 191-11 thatmay be used to request recording reservation data for the correspondingTV programs.

[0281] For example, selecting the request button 191-1 causes thepersonal computer 16 to request the EPG server 10 to send to thedesignated destination the recording reservation data for “Seven O'clocknews” on NHK (trademark) General; selecting the request button 191-2 hasthe personal computer 16 request the EPG server 10 to send to thedesignated destination the recording reservation data for “TV map” onNHK General; selecting the request button 191-3 has the personalcomputer 16 request the EPG server 10 to send to the designateddestination the recording reservation data for “Drama” also on NHKGeneral; selecting the request button 191-4 has the personal computer 16request the EPG server 10 to send to the designated destination therecording reservation data for “Local weather forecasts” on NHK General.

[0282] Similarly, selecting any one of the request buttons 191-5 through191-11 causes the personal computer 16 to request the EPG server 10 tosend the recording reservation data for the corresponding TV program tothe designated destination.

[0283] As described, when the user selects (i.e., clicks on) a desiredTV program in the TV listings of FIG. 40, the personal computer 16requests the EPG server 10 to send the recording reservation data forthe selected program to the designated destination (i.e., personalcomputer 11 in this example). Upon receipt of the transmission request,the EPG server 10 searches the EPG information database (not shown) forthe recording reservation data needed to reserve the desired TV programof a specific TV station, retrieves the applicable recording reservationdata, attaches the retrieved recording reservation data to an e-mail,and sends the e-mail to the personal computer 11 together with theattachment. In turn, the personal computer 11 carries out a recordingreservation based on the recording reservation data attached to thereceived e-mail.

[0284] On the personal computer 16, the e-mail address of the personalcomputer 11 may be associated in advance with a suitable music file.This allows the user of the personal computer 16 to know by a musicalring the arrival of an e-mail from the personal computer 11.

[0285] How a desired ringing melody is reproduced upon receipt of ane-mail will now be described. By operating the keyboard and/or the mouse(both not shown) of the personal computer 16, the user first enters asuitable key command to boot the ringing melody reproduction program175. The personal computer 16 executing the ringing melody reproductionprogram 175 displays on the CRT, not shown, a ringing melody settingscreen indicated in FIG. 41.

[0286] The ringing melody setting screen in FIG. 41 has a mail addressdisplay area 211 that shows a plurality of e-mail addresses representingsenders who may send e-mails. The screen also has a selectable melodydisplay area 212 that indicates a plurality of music file namesassociated with artist names, any of the music files being selectablefor melody reproduction in correspondence with the e-mail address of aspecific sender.

[0287] Illustratively, the user selects the desired e-mail address(“foo@aa.ne.com” in this example) by moving a cursor 211 a up and downin the mail address display area 211 through the use of the mouse. Thenin the selectable melody display area 212, the user similarly moves thecursor 212 a up and down to select a music file (e.g., titled “Melody_A”with the artist name “Artist_A” in this case) that should correspondwith the e-mail address chosen earlier.

[0288] The personal computer 16 executing the ringing melodyreproduction program 175 stores onto a hard disc drive, not shown, theuser-selected e-mail address in correspondence with the desired musicfile.

[0289] When an e-mail is received from the personal computer 11, thepersonal computer 16 executing the ringing melody reproduction program175 extracts header information from the received e-mail, and retrievesfrom the hard disc drive the music file corresponding to the e-mailaddress of the sender included in the extracted header information. Theretrieved music file is output to a speaker, not shown, for audiooutput.

[0290] As described, the personal computer 16 is arranged to retainbeforehand in its storage a specific music file associated with thee-mail address of the personal computer 11. With this arrangement inplace, the arrival of an e-mail message reporting either completion orunavailability of a recording reservation from the personal computer 11is announced by the sound of the preset ringing melody.

[0291] The recording reservation setting process by the personalcomputer 16 is the same as that carried out by the camera-equippeddigital mobile telephone 1 as discussed above with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 24, and thus will not be described further. The e-mailreception process by the personal computer 16 is the same as thatperformed by the mobile telephone 1 as explained above with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 35, and thus will not be described further.

[0292] It was shown above that the recording reservation data attachedto the e-mail are described using a TVPI control command. However, thisis not limitative of the invention. Alternatively, other predeterminedcontrol commands such as Typinfo control commands may be used instead.

[0293] It was also shown that the recording reservation is set by use ofthe camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 or the personal computer16. Alternatively, the same process is carried out using the mobiletelephone 1 and the PDA 2.

[0294] This invention is applied not only to the camera-equipped digitalmobile telephone 1, PDA 2, and personal computer 16; but also to laptoppersonal computers; PHS (Personal Handyphone System) terminals, carnavigation systems, and other devices which send and receive e-mails.

[0295] It was also shown above that a desired TV program is reserved forunattended recording by the user manipulating the operation keys 41 ofthe camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1. Alternatively, recordingreservation of the desired TV program may be carried out by the user'svoice input.

[0296] Described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 42 is arecording reservation setting process performed through voicerecognition. This process is initiated by the user manipulating theoperation keys 41 of the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1 soas to enter a suitable key command to boot the WWW browser 171.

[0297] In step S201, the main control unit 61 of the mobile telephone 1executing the WWW browser 171 establishes connection with the EPG server10 via the Internet 8. In step S202, the main control unit 61 receives acompact HTML file from the EPG server 10 over the Internet 8, anddisplays a predetermined screen (TV program information screen of FIG.15 in this example) reflecting the received file on the liquid crystaldisplay 35. At the same time, the sound corresponding to the content ofthe file is fed to the speaker 34 for output.

[0298] Illustratively, the speaker 34 outputs a message like this: Ifyou have already registered for the recording reservation service,please pronounce “registered user”; if you have yet to register for therecording reservation service, please say “unregistered user”; if youwish to know the rules of the service, please pronounce “service rules”;if you want explanations of various functions available with therecording reservation service, please say “explanation of functions.”

[0299] In step S203, the main control unit 61 judges whether the userhas requested for transmission of recording reservation data. Iftransmission of the recording reservation data is not judged to berequested, step S204 is reached.

[0300] In step S204, the main control unit 61 judges whether the userhas made a voice input through the microphone 43. The step is repeateduntil a voice input is judged to be made.

[0301] If in step S204 the user is judged to have made a voice input(e.g., pronouncing “registered user”), step S205 is reached. In stepS205, the main control unit 61 boots the voice recognition program 173to recognize the voice entered in step S204. From step S205, control isreturned to step S202.

[0302] In step S202, the main control unit 61 receives another compactHTML file from the EPG server 10 via the Internet 8, and displays apredetermined screen (log-in screen of FIG. 16 in this case) reflectingthe received file on the liquid crystal display 35. At the same time,the sound corresponding to the content of the file is fed to the speaker34 for output. This causes the speaker 34 to output an audio message,such as “Please pronounce your user ID and password.”

[0303] If in step S203 the user is not judged to have requested thetransmission of recording reservation data yet, then step S204 isreached. Step S204 is repeated until the main control unit 61 judgesthat the user has made a voice input through the microphone 43.

[0304] If in step S204 the user is judged to have made a voice input(e.g., illustratively pronouncing “My user ID is AAA; my password isBBB”), step S205 is reached. In step S205, the main control unit 61boots the voice recognition program 173 to recognize the voice enteredin step S204. From step S205, control is returned to step S202 and thesubsequent steps are repeated.

[0305] In step S202, a predetermined screen (TV program informationscreen of FIG. 21 in this case) is displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay 35 and the sound related to the content of the display is fed tothe speaker 34 for output. Upon verifying the output sound, the usereither selects the button indicated as “Reserve iEPG” by manipulatingthe operation keys 41, or makes a voice input by illustrativelypronouncing “Reserve that program for recording.” The selection or voiceinput constitutes a request for transmission of the recordingreservation data.

[0306] If in step S203 the user is judged to have requested transmissionof the recording reservation data, step S206 is reached. In step S206,the main control unit 61 disconnects from the EPG server 10.

[0307] Given the transmission request, the EPG server 10 searches theEPG information database (not shown) for the recording reservation dataneeded to reserve the desired TV program of a specific TV station,retrieves the applicable recording reservation data, attaches theretrieved recording reservation data to an e-mail, and sends the e-mailto the personal computer 11 together with the attachment.

[0308] As described, when the name of a particular TV program is inputby voice, the recording reservation of the program in question can bemade on an interactive basis. The ensuing processes are the same asthose discussed above and thus will not be described further.

[0309] The voice recognition process above was shown carried out by themain control unit 61 of the camera-equipped digital mobile telephone 1as depicted in FIGS. 13 and 42. Alternatively, the series of voicerecognition steps may be executed by the EPG server 10 in FIG. 4 inorder to alleviate the workload on the mobile telephone 1.

[0310] The series of steps described above may be executed either byhardware or by software. For software-based processing to take place,programs constituting the software may be either incorporated beforehandin dedicated hardware of a computer or installed upon use from asuitable program storage medium into a general-purpose personal computeror like equipment capable of executing diverse functions.

[0311] As shown in FIG. 10, computer-executable programs designed toperform the above-described processes when installed in a computer maybe retained on such package media as the magnetic disc 121 (includingflexible disks), optical disc 122 (including CD-ROM (compact disc-readonly memory) and DVD (digital versatile disc)), magneto-optical disc 123(including MD (Mini-Disc)), or semiconductor memory 124; or may bestored on the flash ROM 93 or the hard disc where the programs residetemporarily or permanently. The programs may be retained on thesestorage media after being transferred over wired or wirelesscommunication media such as the public switched network 4, local areanetworks, the Internet 8, or digital satellite broadcasting networks viasuitable interfaces such as routers and modems as needed.

[0312] In this specification, the steps which are stored on a programstorage medium and which describe the programs to be executed representnot only the processes that are carried out in the depicted sequence(i.e., on a time series basis) but also processes that are conductedparallelly or individually.

[0313] In this specification, the term “system” refers to an entireconfiguration made up of a plurality of component devices.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0314] Where the information processing apparatus according to oneaspect of the invention is in use, the program information providingapparatus is requested thereby to attach to an e-mail suitable controldata for controlling recording of a desired TV program for unattendedrecording and to send the e-mail along with the attachment to anotherinformation processing apparatus over the network. This permits easy andquick reservation of desired TV programs for unattended recording.

[0315] Where the information processing apparatus according to anotheraspect of the invention is in use, an e-mail with control data attachedthereto for controlling recording of a desired TV program for unattendedrecording is received from another information processing apparatus overthe network. Recording of the desired TV program is then controlled bythe information processing apparatus based on the control data attachedto the e-mail received. This also permits easy and quick reservation ofdesired TV programs for unattended recording.

[0316] Where the program information providing apparatus of thisinvention is in use, if a first information processing apparatusrequests that control data be sent over the network to a secondinformation processing apparatus, then the control data are retrievedfrom storage and an e-mail is prepared by attaching the retrievedcontrol data to the e-mail. The e-mail thus prepared is sent over thenetwork to the second information processing apparatus. This alsopermits easy and quick reservation of desired TV programs for unattendedrecording.

[0317] Where the image recording system of this invention is in use, ifa first information processing apparatus requests that control dataabout a desired TV program be sent over the network, then the controldata are retrieved from a program information providing apparatus andattached to an e-mail. The e-mail along with the attached control datais sent over the network to a second information processing apparatus.Recording of the desired TV program is then controlled by the secondinformation processing apparatus based on the control data attached tothe e-mail. This also permits easy and quick reservation of desired TVprograms for unattended recording.

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: first requestingmeans for requesting a program information providing apparatus toprovide program information about programs via a network; selectingmeans for selecting any of said programs by controlling display of saidprogram information provided by said program information providingapparatus; and second requesting means which, if any of said programs isselected by said selecting means, then requests said program informationproviding apparatus to attach to an e-mail control data for controllingreservation of the selected program for unattended recording beforesending said e-mail together with the attached control data to anotherinformation processing apparatus.
 2. An information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising: associating means forassociating a predetermined music file with a mail address of saidanother information processing apparatus; e-mail receiving means forreceiving via the network from said another information processingapparatus an e-mail saying that the reservation of said selected programfor unattended recording is completed; and ringing tone outputting meanswhich, if said e-mail received by said e-mail receiving means has a mailaddress associated with said music file by said associating means, thenoutputs said music file as a ringing tone upon receipt of said e-mail bysaid e-mail receiving means.
 3. An information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said control data include channelinformation, a recording start date, a recording start time, and arecording stop time.
 4. An information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said control data are added to said e-mail as anattachment file.
 5. An information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said control data are described in a message of saide-mail.
 6. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said second requesting means requests said program informationproviding apparatus to attach said control data to a general-purposee-mail before sending said general-purpose e-mail together with theattached control data to said another information processing apparatusover said network.
 7. An information processing apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein said general-purpose e-mail can be sent and receivedover the Internet.
 8. An information processing method comprising thesteps of: requesting firstly a program information providing apparatusto provide program information about programs via a network; selectingany of said programs by controlling display of said program informationprovided by said program information providing apparatus; and if any ofsaid programs is selected in said selecting step, then requestingsecondly said program information providing apparatus to attach to ane-mail control data for controlling reservation of the selected programfor unattended recording before sending said e-mail together with theattached control data via the network to another information processingapparatus.
 9. A program storage medium which stores a computer-readableprogram comprising the steps of: requesting firstly a programinformation providing apparatus to provide program information aboutprograms via a network; selecting any of said programs by controllingdisplay of said program information provided by said program informationproviding apparatus; and if any of said programs is selected in saidselecting step, then requesting secondly said program informationproviding apparatus to attach to an e-mail control data for controllingreservation of the selected program for unattended recording beforesending said e-mail together with the attached control data via thenetwork to another information processing apparatus.
 10. An informationprocessing apparatus comprising: e-mail receiving means for receiving ane-mail sent over a network from another information processingapparatus, said e-mail having control data attached thereto forcontrolling reservation of a program for unattended recording; andrecording controlling means for initially storing said control dataattached to said e-mail received by said e-mail receiving means, beforecontrolling unattended recording of said program based on the storedcontrol data.
 11. An information processing apparatus according to claim10, further comprising e-mail sending means for sending to said anotherinformation apparatus an e-mail saying that the reservation of saidprogram for unattended recording is completed.
 12. An informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said control datainclude channel information, a recording start date, a recording starttime, and a recording stop time.
 13. An information processing apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein said control data are added to saide-mail as an attachment.
 14. An information processing apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein said control data are described in amessage of said e-mail.
 15. An information processing apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein said e-mail receiving means receives ageneral-purpose e-mail to which said control data are attached, saidgeneral-purpose e-mail being sent from said another informationprocessing apparatus over said network.
 16. An information processingapparatus according to claim 15, wherein said general-purpose e-mail canbe sent and received over the Internet.
 17. An information processingmethod comprising the steps of: receiving an e-mail sent over a networkfrom an information processing apparatus, said e-mail having controldata attached thereto for controlling reservation of a program forunattended recording; and controlling recording by initially storingsaid control data attached to said e-mail received in said e-mailreceiving step, before controlling unattended recording of said programbased on the stored control data.
 18. A program storage medium whichstores a computer-readable program comprising the steps of: receiving ane-mail sent over a network from an information processing apparatus,said e-mail having control data attached thereto for controllingreservation of a program for unattended recording; and controllingrecording by initially storing said control data attached to said e-mailreceived in said e-mail receiving step, before controlling unattendedrecording of said program based on the stored control data.
 19. Aprogram information providing apparatus comprising: storing means forstoring control data for controlling reservation of a program forunattended recording; providing means which, if a first informationprocessing apparatus requests provision of program information aboutsaid program over a network, then provides said program information tosaid first information processing apparatus; preparing means which, ifsaid first information processing apparatus requests that said controldata be sent over said network to a second information processingapparatus, then reads said control data from said storing means beforepreparing an e-mail by attaching the retrieved control data to saide-mail; and sending means for sending said e-mail prepared by saidpreparing means to said second information processing apparatus oversaid network.
 20. A program information providing apparatus according toclaim 19, wherein said control data include channel information, arecording start date, a recording start time, and a recording stop time.21. A program information providing apparatus according to claim 19,wherein said control data are added to said e-mail as an attachment. 22.A program information providing apparatus according to claim 19, whereinsaid control data are described in a message of said e-mail.
 23. Aprogram information providing apparatus according to claim 19, whereinsaid sending means attaches said control data to a general-purposee-mail before sending said general-purpose e-mail together with theattached control data to said second information processing apparatusover said network.
 24. A program information providing apparatusaccording to claim 23, wherein said general-purpose e-mail can be sentand received over the Internet.
 25. A program information providingmethod comprising the steps of: controlling storage of control data forcontrolling reservation of a program for unattended recording; if afirst information processing apparatus requests program informationabout said program over a network, then providing said programinformation to said first information processing apparatus; if saidfirst information processing apparatus requests that said control databe sent over said network to a second information processing apparatus,then reading said control data stored in said storage controlling stepbefore preparing an e-mail by attaching the retrieved control data tosaid e-mail; and sending said e-mail prepared in said preparing step tosaid second information processing apparatus over said network.
 26. Aprogram storage medium which stores a computer-readable programcomprising the steps of: controlling storage of control data forcontrolling reservation of a program for unattended recording; if afirst information processing apparatus requests program informationabout said program over a network, then providing said programinformation to said first information processing apparatus; if saidfirst information processing apparatus requests that said control databe sent over said network to a second information processing apparatus,then reading said control data stored in said storage controlling stepbefore preparing an e-mail by attaching the retrieved control data tosaid e-mail; and sending said e-mail prepared in said preparing step tosaid second information processing apparatus over said network.
 27. Animage recording system comprising a program information providingapparatus, a first information processing apparatus and a secondinformation processing apparatus, said program information providingapparatus providing over a network control data for controllingreservation of a program for unattended recording, said firstinformation processing apparatus reserving said program for unattendedrecording, said second information processing apparatus recording saidprogram in unattended fashion; wherein said program informationproviding apparatus comprises: storing means for storing said controldata; preparing means which, if said first information processingapparatus requests that said control data be sent over said network tosaid second information processing apparatus, then reads said controldata from said storing means before preparing an e-mail by attaching theretrieved control data to said e-mail; and sending means for sendingsaid e-mail prepared by said preparing means to said second informationprocessing apparatus over said network; wherein said first informationprocessing apparatus comprises: selecting means for initiallycontrolling display of program information provided by said programinformation providing apparatus over said network, before selecting saidprogram from among the programs covered by said program information; andrequesting means which, if said program is selected by said selectingmeans, then requests said program information providing apparatus tosend said control data to said second information processing apparatusover said network; and wherein said second information processingapparatus comprises: receiving means for receiving said e-mail sent fromsaid program information providing apparatus over said network; andrecording controlling means for initially storing said control dataattached to said e-mail received by said receiving means, beforecontrolling unattended recording of said program based on the storedcontrol data.